My Whole Life Long
by LeSlytherinPhoenix
Summary: "I'm not gay!" Marley protests, biting her lip nervously and looking around. Unique cocks a finely plucked eyebrow and looks at her dubiously. She has nothing left over for Kitty. She barely even knows the girl. What was she thinking? AU Karley.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, guys. This is my new Karley fanfiction. As you can probably already see, these chapters will be a great deal longer than those for Lockdown, so you can expect updates more sporadically, perhaps once a week or maybe more. It's set in an AU universe, but there will be a lot of mentions or appearances of other characters from the series. **

**This fic is going to be co-written by my friend novakfabray123. She'll be writing the chapters in Kitty's POV, I'll be writing them from Marley's. **

**Summary: "I'm not gay!" Marley protests, biting her lip nervously and looking around. Unique cocks a finely plucked eyebrow and looks at her dubiously. She has nothing left over for Kitty. She barely even knows the girl. What was she thinking? AU Karley. **

**Characters: Marley R. and Kitty**

**Rating: T**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, nor do I own the lyrics at the end of the fic or the quote. The lyrics are from the Wicked song, "What Is This Feeling?" **

_To burn with desire and keep quiet about it is the greatest punishment we can bring on ourselves. _

_ -Federico Garcia Lorca_

Marley swallows and steps inside her dorm room door.

It closes quietly behind her and she sits down on the bed that she presumes to be hers, as the other is covered with pink bed sheets and magazine covers. She sighs gently, biting her lip in anxiety and tapping her fingers against the plain white sheets. She didn't know she had to bring her own, but she supposes it doesn't really matter—who is going to judge her on her sheets?

She walks over to the window and stares out at the city, tears nearly brimming in her eyes. She can't believe she's here. It took so much convincing and so much luck, but Marley Rose is in New York, at one of the most exclusive, prestigious performing arts boarding schools in the country. She grins widely, biting her lip and pokes her reflection in the window.

She turns around and leans against the window sill, shivering slightly as the glass touches her back. She leans forward, hoping to escape the chill that the glass seems to radiate, and she sighs, exhaling gently and biting her lip. She vaguely hopes that her roommate will be someone she can get along with, but judging from the bed sheets and the pink and those magazines, she doubts it. She doesn't necessarily look for fights with those kinds of people. It's just that they seem to hate her, and she shudders subconsciously as she remembers what they did to her. She's not going to relive that here, though. This is a new school, a school for people with talent, and if Marley made it here, she can make it anywhere.

The door crashes open and Marley starts, pressing herself automatically against the window sill, her eyes flying open in surprise. Who could it really be, other than her roommate? She steels herself for whatever might come through the door, and she can't really say she's surprised when it's some tiny blonde thing in a cheerleading uniform.

Marley's first reaction is panic. What is a blonde cheerleader doing in her dorm? She shakes her head and tries to clear it of the memories that threaten to invade her mind. Blonde cheerleaders are bad. Especially the bitchy ones. But wait, isn't that all of them? As her mind clears, she realizes that it must be her roommate, and she nearly wants to slap herself to punish herself for her own stupidity—the expression on her face isn't exactly a very positive welcome.

She's going to be spending the rest of the year with this girl, so she might as well make her her friend. Friends were good. Friends were a buffer against whatever or whoever she might be forced to encounter or interact with.

She's pretty, Marley guesses, but she doesn't really seem all too happy. She barges in through the door and stops straight in her tracks, staring sullenly at Marley until the blonde finally says something to break the horrifically awkward silence.

"Who're you?" She asks with a displeased expression and an expression of distaste ghosts over her face, but it's gone in a flash and Marley can just barely convince herself that it was all in her head. Of course it wasn't, though, and Marley's gut knows that, but she can at least pretend. Pretending is fun. Pretending keeps away the pain.

"I-I'm Marley Rose," she offers, and holds out her hand for the girl to shake. The girl eyes her for a split second and then shakes her hand to Marley's relief. That would've been horrifically embarrassing, and they don't really seem to be getting off to a good start anyways. "I'm your new roommate?"

"Oh, right," the blonde says like she knows what's going on, but Marley can tell she's confused. Did she not have a roommate before? She looks around the room, and immediately it becomes obvious to her: she's intruding on her personal space. Marley swallows and offers her a small smile, and although the blonde doesn't exactly return it, she acknowledges it a bit with a slight nod. "I'm Kitty Wilde, by the way," she says, and there's a confident smirk on her face. Marley's stomach contorts in a weird way. It's nerves. She just desperately hopes that she won't be terrible to her like the other girls.

Marley gives her another smile and Kitty bites her perfectly glossed lip. She brushes past her and gets a textbook sitting on one of the two desks next to the window and walks over to her bed, letting the book fall onto the ground. Marley realizes she's staring and averts her eyes quickly, trying not to blush.

Kitty sits down on her bed and picks up one of the fashion magazines, leafing through it noisily. After watching the blonde for a few seconds, Marley shakes her head quickly and sits down on her own bed, beginning to unpack. Her closet side is about the same size, but she doesn't really care too much. She doesn't have enough clothes to fill the half anyways, so it's not like it matters.

After she's done, she sits down on her bed and pulls out her laptop. It's old and beat-up, but it works. It's her mother's going away present for her, and she appreciates it more than almost anything. She knows her mother is secretly glad to have her out of the house: the school pays for food and board and all of her supplies, and it's honestly cheaper. Her mother loves her, Marley knows that, but she doesn't really think she'll miss her too much.

Her laptop fires up, and Marley types in her password with frantic fingers. This is the only thing she has, save from her phone, to keep in touch with her old friends. It's unlikely she'll be seeing them again before summer, so she's going to hold onto this as long as humanly possible.

She logs into Facebook and types a quick message to Jake. He's going to miss her, of course, but he's promised to audition for the school in the summer. She grins. That'd be much too fun.

He replies almost instantly, and Marley grins. _How's New York? _He asks, and she squares her shoulders and shifts her weight uncomfortably.

_It's okay. I guess, _she adds, because there's really nothing else she can say. What is there to say at a time like this, anyways? She and Jake have been friends for so long, she can't even remember. She fiercely blushes at that one time freshman year where she was convinced she was completely in love with him. One kiss and she was convinced she wasn't, and then they just went back to being friends. It was better this way, anyways.

But this will be the first year since fifth grade that they haven't seen each other every day. And even though Marley might love being in the city, it'll be difficult. At least for a few weeks. She exhales and looks at the screen, where she sees that Jake has replied. _Only okay? What, is everyone being mean to you or something? _He's worried. Even though Marley doesn't know what his voice sounds like right now, she can tell he's worried.

_I haven't talked to anyone yet, really, just my roommate._ She tries to console him. He's so overprotective sometimes, but she smiles in spite of herself.

_Is she a bitch? _Comes the immediate reply, and Marley rolls her eyes.

_No, no. She's nice, actually._ Marley lies, and she hopes Jake won't be able to read her uncertainty through the message. It isn't even a lie, really, just some kind of bending of the truth—Marley's uncertain, and until she is, that's just the answer she'll feed to Jake and everyone else back at home. She's fine with telling them everything's okay. They won't worry about her that way, and the less stress for Marley's mother and Jake, the better.

Marley isn't even sure she likes Kitty, really. At least from what she's seen of her, she doesn't. The blonde is opinionated and shallow, exactly the kind of person that Marley normally never associates herself with. She's bitchy, she's a cheerleader, she's blonde, and she's also freaking _tiny: _Kitty Wilde is a walking stereotype, and Marley doesn't want to get caught up in all that high school drama. Her old school was bad enough, and she never wanted to get involved in that kind of drama either, but look what happened. Drama, drama, drama, and Marley Rose in the middle of it. High school was a terrible place.

_Oh, good, _Jake types, and Marley can hear the immediate relief in his voice. _Well, I've got to go eat dinner, I'll text you later. _

_Talk to you later. _Marley types out and sighs, shutting her laptop and plugging it in, setting it on the floor next to her bed.

She also decides to hide the fact that she's here on scholarship. What's the point? It's not like it'll gain her any friends, and she doesn't see any good that it would do if she admitted it anyways. She silently thanks God that her mother doesn't work here. It would make her life a lot more difficult, and although she hates herself for it, she wants to have friends here. She wants to be popular, for the first time in her damn life. She deserves it, after the endless tormenting and the mocking and whatnot. It was bad in middle school, it was worse in high school, and now she deserves to have friends.

"So where are you from?" A bored voice comes from the bed next to her, and Marley tenses slightly. She pulls her legs up onto the bed and looks at Kitty, who hasn't even looked up at her.

"Ohio," Marley says in a small voice, and Kitty smirks gently. Marley sighs and bites the inside of her cheek but forces herself to remain civil. I need to have friends here, she thinks harshly. Remember that.

"Come to the big city to follow your dreams?" She asks dryly and laughs. Marley sighs and looks desperately to her phone, wishing she could just text Jake or whoever and not have to talk to this girl.

"I guess," she answers quietly, tracing the comforter with her finger. She folds her hands together and rests her chin on top, shrugging. "What do you study?"

"Theatre," Kitty says, and Marley's heart sinks. "Musical Theatre, to be exact," she says with a nearly bored expression, and Marley's heart sinks even more. The departments are small. The classes are even smaller, and with her luck, she's going to be in a class with Kitty and maybe four other people. She swallows and closes her eyes for a split second. "What about you?" Kitty asks, as if she's just remembered that they're having a conversation.

"Same," she says quickly and tries to smile. This time, Kitty reciprocates it, but it's wary and unsure. "We'll be in the same class, then?" She asks, trying to sound hopeful but at the same time desperately hoping she's not.

"Yep," Kitty says and pops the 'p,' sighing and turning the page of her magazine noisily. "Miss Berry, that's the voice teacher, and Ms. Fabray for normal theatre." Marley shrugs and bites her lip. The names are unfamiliar to her. "Miss Berry is alright, I guess," Kitty says, but with the accompanying eye roll that she delivers convinces Marley that she doesn't mean it. "Actually, she's kind of a bitch, but you get used to it eventually." Kitty's eyes drift away from her magazine for a split second and focus back on Marley.

Marley's breath hitches for a split second. She's not quite sure why, but she was nearly convinced that Kitty's eyes were blue. It would fit into the stereotype, she supposes, but obviously she was wrong, because they're actually not blue. They're hazel, and that fact somehow manages to confuse her and intrigue her at the same time. She shakes her head slightly and looks away from Kitty, brushing her nose with her hand. "Thanks," she mutters and looks down again, biting her lip and checking her phone for the time. There's a text from Jake, but she ignores it, because _shit. _

She stands up suddenly and runs a hand through her hair. "What now?" Kitty asks, and the chill is evident in her voice. Shivers run up Marley's spine, and she turns to look at the blonde, biting her lip.

"I need to go to new student orientation," she explains and shrugs, running her hand through her hair again and motioning stupidly with her hair through the air.

"No one goes to that," Kitty says, her voice muffled slightly. She looks up at Marley and raises a single eyebrow. "You're seriously going to go?" She asks skeptically.

"Yes," Marley says, and she curses her voice for being incredibly small and weak. She does really plan on going: her mother suggested it, and she doesn't want to start school at the beginning of the semester knowing no one at all. It's a terrifying prospect, and although she knows Kitty, she doesn't really feel like they're going to become close friends any time soon.

"Do what you want," Kitty says. "What room is it in?" She asks, and gets up, brushing a stray curl away from her face. Marley's eyebrows knit in confusion. What exactly is Kitty doing?

"What are you doing?" She voices the thought, and Kitty raises her eyebrows again. Marley's voice loses its strength about halfway through the question, and she begins to rock back and forth slightly on the balls of her feet, hoping to detract from the awkward situation.

"You're going to get lost, you know," Kitty answers and raises her eyebrows like it's obvious. "And if my roommate is found wandering around lost in her first what, hour, at school, I'm going to be blamed." Marley nods quickly, understanding. It's a good excuse, but it's still nice, so Marley isn't going to complain.

"Okay," she says, somewhat nervous and smoothes out some imaginary folds in her jeans, following Kitty out the door and closing it behind her. If she brings her somewhere, anywhere that isn't where this is supposed to be, she's going to be seriously irritated, mad, even. She's got enough of the cheerleader's useless bullshit for this year, and she can't take it anymore.

Kitty stops and whips out a key, locking the door. Marley swallows, and she quickly taps her pocket to make sure hers is still in there. It is, of course, but it's weighing her pocket down, the metal of the device cold through her jeans pocket. Kitty turns back around, and Marley's confusion must be evident on her face, as Kitty stops and takes a deep breath.

"Lock the door every time you leave," Kitty explains in an almost bored voice, and Marley nods. "I don't want any of my…" she takes a deep breath and bites her lip, staring at Marley with an expression of near irritation. "Our stuff getting stolen, or whatever." Marley nods again. "So what room did you say it was?" Kitty asks, beginning to walk down the hall.

Marley hastens to catch up with her and finally does, walking next to her at a steady pace. "Room, uh, 424," she says, looking at the piece of paper she had had folded up in her pocket.

"Fourth floor," Kitty mutters and rolls her eyes. "Damn these stairs." They turn the corner and walk down a long hallway separating what Marley presumes to be the dorms and the actual school. It's cold in the hallway and Marley shivers unconsciously. Kitty doesn't seem to be fazed by the cold and merely walks on, her light hair fluttering in the breeze.

They walk up four flights of stairs, and by the time they reach the top, Marley's legs are burning. "It's just down this hall," Kitty says curtly, and Marley nods, expecting Kitty to turn around. But somehow, she doesn't and instead continues walking, not looking back once, her blonde cheerleader ponytail swinging to and fro across her back.

They finally reach the door and Kitty motions towards it with her head. "Here you are," she says and turns to begin walking down the hall, her blonde ponytail swinging in an almost perfect pendulum like a clock, swinging back and forth, back and forth endlessly, curled into flawless corkscrew curls.

"Thank you," Marley calls out before she's gone, and Kitty doesn't even turn around.

"You're welcome," she says, and unless Marley is hallucinating, there's a bit of a smirk in her voice. Shaking her head, she takes a deep breath and opens the classroom door.

New student orientation is fairly basic: there's a tour around the school, which Marley appreciates, and she gets a ton of pamphlets and such that she's sure are going to come in handy eventually. New student orientation would be useless if she hadn't met the few other new students. They get put into pairs for the tour, and the person who accompanies Marley is loud and funny. Her name is Unique, Unique Adams, and she's technically a he. [Which Marley has no problem with; she prefers keeping an open mind.] She's actually _very_ loud and quite hilarious, and Marley finds herself listening more to the other girl than she is to the actual guide.

However, Unique is in choir, which means that although they might see each other at lunch and/or between classes, they won't be spending the majority of their time together, which irritates her. She'd love to have a friend that isn't a cheerleader and probably majorly popular, so she immediately says yes when Unique offers to sit next to her in the cafeteria for dinner that day.

The cafeteria is relatively plain, and Marley recalls a time when her mother used to work behind one of those counters and she shudders subconsciously. Not because of her mother, obviously, but because of the time that it used to be, the ridiculous taunting and such. It stings, and she opts to sit as far away from the food pick-up counter as possible in hopes of banishing the memories.

"So, how's your roommate?" Unique asks, one uncomfortable question in a sea of unforced, natural conversation.

"She's…" Marley shrugs and holds her hands up helplessly. "Alright, I guess," she finishes the sentence moodily and stares down at her plate. The food has been surprisingly elegant and good-tasting, but she's not really surprised: normally people pay good money for this, why would it taste the same as the food at the crappy high school Marley went to in Ohio?

"Only alright?" Unique raises an eyebrow and then sinks it again, staring at Marley with an expression of near worry on her face. "What's wrong with her?"

"She's just so…ugh," Marley says and buries her face in her arms, thankful that it's late and that the cafeteria is closed right now. "Perfect?" She tries to find a good word to describe her, but somehow fails. "I don't know," she says and looks back up. "She's just a popular blonde cheerleader and I don't know what to think of her."

Unique seems to be watching her with a bit of a strange expression, and Marley knits her eyebrows together, confused. "Do you like her?" Unique asks with something resembling a smirk on her face.

What? _Why does Unique think I like her? Have I been talking about her strangely or something? Oh, god, what? Why? _Marley's mind frantically searches for an answer and finally settles on one, albeit not the most poetic one possible. "I'm not gay!" Marley protests, biting her lip nervously and looking around. Unique cocks a finely plucked eyebrow and looks at her dubiously. She has nothing left over for Kitty. She barely even knows the girl. What was she thinking?

"I meant as a friend," Unique clarifies, but she's thinking something and although Marley doesn't know exactly what, she doesn't want to find out.

"Oh," Marley says lamely, her cheeks burning. "I don't know; I barely know her." She shrugs and picks up a fry.

"I see," Unique says mysteriously and turns back to her food.

"What?" Marley asks, and for some unknown reason, she's blushing again.

"No-thing," Unique sing-songs, and Marley bites her lip out of habit and begins to eat again. Their conversation jumps around, from mutual favorite musicals [Wicked] to hobbies [They both, obviously, love to sing] and just random gossip. Marley's enjoying herself, and although she doesn't know Unique too well, part of her already is sure that they're going to become fast friends.

But eventually, they have to go back to their respective dorms, and although Marley finds the way well enough on her own, she finds herself walking with a heavier step as she nears her dorm room. It's not like she necessarily doesn't want to see Kitty, or that she dreads the blonde. It's just that she doesn't want to mess up whatever tentative almost friendship they've struck up, if that's even anything. But Marley shakes her head firmly and digs around in her pocket for the key, a slight weight lifting off of her chest as she finds it.

Her hand fumbles with the key and she unlocks the door. It creaks open and she steps inside. The room is bright and warm, and she locks it behind her and lets herself flop onto the bed. "How was it?" Kitty asks from the bed next to hers and Marley looks over. She's lying sprawled on the covers, her legs dangling casually in the air as she flips through a textbook. Marley swallows.

"It was alright," she answers, then steps into the bathroom they share and changes into her sleeping stuff and gets ready for bed. It's not even late, it's about 10:30, but she's tired and she doesn't want to wake up tomorrow exhausted. School doesn't start for another two days, but there'll be field trips and activities and such that she doesn't want to miss.

"You're going to bed now?" Kitty asks, her voice full of distaste, and Marley inadvertently rolls her eyes. Who is this girl to judge what Marley does all the time? Who is she to dictate how she lives? And why in all hell isn't Marley completely pissed?

"Yeah, I'm really tired," Marley says and almost hates herself for sounding so lost and vulnerable. She hasn't slept for a while, really, since she woke up early out of nerves and she couldn't bring herself to sleep in the plane. She's too paranoid for that, paranoid they're going to fall out of the sky and die, every single person. It's the fact that they're not on solid ground that worries her, and her nerves were too shaky to sleep at all.

"Oh," Kitty says softly and sits up, tucking her legs under her and brushing back a perfectly curled stray strand of hair. "I-We can turn the light off, if you want," she says, her voice trying to sound unfriendly but somehow failing miserably.

"It's fine," Marley says and lies down under the covers, shivering miserably. She's cold, but of course she isn't going to admit that. She briefly considers asking Kitty if she has a comforter or another blanket but decides against it until the blonde speaks up herself.

"There are extra blankets and stuff in the closet," she says matter-of-factly, and despite herself, Marley is thankful that the other girl is at least going to be minimally helpful. She doesn't want to freeze overnight, of course. Marley doesn't even entertain the idea, however, that Kitty actually cares. _She's just playing nice, _Marley whispers to herself in a snide little voice that doesn't come out of her head. _She doesn't really care. Just get the damn blanket. _She sidles out of bed and walks over to the closet, picking up one of the heavy woolen blankets lying on the base of it.

"Thanks," Marley says and goes back to bed, hesitating for a moment. Would it be weird to sleep facing her? She's never shared a room before, so Marley wouldn't know. After pondering the thought for a few moments, Marley flips over, her back to the other girl and her eyes tightly shut, trying to sleep. It's too bright, though, and although Marley doesn't want to inconvenience Kitty, she doesn't think she's going to get a lot, if any, sleep if it's still going to be as bright as this.

She hears soft, padded footsteps by her bed and then the overhead light turns off. Marley's head instantly relaxes and her eyes begin to water. She is just so, _so _tired, and although she doesn't really want to, her brain automatically opens her mouth and makes her say two words: "Thank you."

She just hears Kitty's weight shifting on the other side of the room and she tries to convince herself it doesn't matter that the blonde is ignoring her. But the firm weight of rejection, any type of rejection, still weighs heavily on Marley's shoulders, and she sighs and tries to force herself to sleep. Somehow, it works, but just as Marley begins to drift off, she can hear the soft, whispered words that could only come from one source.

It's a soft, silent whisper, so quiet and you can barely catch it—but it's most certainly there, as clear as day. "You're welcome," Kitty Wilde whispers, and in that moment, Marley Rose can sense her world changing and shifting. But that's impossible. Kitty is annoying, annoying and blonde and a cheerleader and so incredibly stereotypical that Marley can't stand it. She'll be just like all the other bitchy girls at high school, Marley can tell. And in that moment, she can almost convince herself she doesn't like Kitty. That she loathes her, even.

_Loathing; there's a strange exhilaration _

_In such total detestation _

_It's so pure, so strong, _

_Though I do admit it came on fast, _

_Still I believe that it can last, and I will be loathing you, _

_Loathing you, my whole life long. _

_ -"What Is This Feeling?" Stephen Schwartz_


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi, everyone! Thanks for the lovely reviews, favorites, and follows. Really, thank you. I hope you like this next chapter. **

**This chapter was written in part by my friend novakfabray123. Thanks, lovely, I really appreciate it! **

**Summary: "I'm not gay!" Marley protests, biting her lip nervously and looking around. Unique cocks a finely plucked eyebrow and looks at her dubiously. She has nothing left over for Kitty. She barely even knows the girl. What was she thinking? AU Karley. **

**Characters: Marley R. and Kitty**

**Rating: T**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, nor do I own the lyrics at the end of the fic or the quote. The lyrics are from the Wicked song, "What Is This Feeling?" **

"_When you really know somebody you can't hate them. Or maybe it's just that you can't really know them until you stop hating them."_

_-Orson Scott Card_

The alarm goes off, beeping unpleasantly in her ear. Kitty grimaces and tries to cover her ears with her blanket, but her attempt is useless: she's going to have to get up, unless she wants to be late to her first day of school. And even though she can pretend like she doesn't really care, she doesn't want to endanger her grade or piss off Ms. Berry. Especially the second.

Kitty rolls over and yawns. She glances over to her new roommate and rolls her eyes. Like, seriously? Roommate? She never had one last year. Why did she need one now? She gets up and walks over to her closet filled all the way with the most expensive brands of jeans, skirts, shirts and shorts. Since only the freshmen were required to wear the uniform white dress shirt with tie, dark blue blazers and khaki pants, Kitty is, thankfully, free to wear what she'd like. So she settles for a white shirt with a tan colored cardigan over it and some dark skinny jeans she bought last year. Casually glancing over at her still sleeping roommate, she smirks. No doubt she was a scholarship kid, she could just tell by the beaten up laptop, the worn-out jeans that were lying on her desk chair and her ripped luggage she had under the desk itself.

She steps into the bathroom, fixing her hair and getting ready for the day. Examining her reflection in the mirror, she deems herself perfect and steps back out again, picking up the school supplies she's laid out the night before. The blonde sighs and walks towards the door, not bothering waking up her roommate, Marty? Marla? Meryl? Something like that.

Kitty steps out of her room and locks the door behind her. Today was the first day of classes and she really didn't want to be late to Ms. Berry's class. Both metaphorically and literally, Rachel Berry is the Wicked Witch of the West. Ms. Rachel Berry is a retired Broadway actress. She was and still is most famous for her 5 year run as Elphaba in the Broadway phenomenon, Wicked. So when Kitty says she's a witch, she means it. Ugh. Once a student tried to sing Defying Gravity as an assignment and Ms. Berry had to practically excuse herself from the room, she was so disgusted. They say she isn't always so ridiculously bitchy, if you get on her good side. Which luckily for Kitty, she is. She's always been on every single teacher's good side. She walks down the impressively vast stone hallways of her school and arrives mere minutes late to her voice class.

"Ms. Wilde! So nice of you to join us, my little soprano." Kitty suppresses an eye roll. Ms. Berry constantly puts her on the high harmonies in every single song they sing. She's the group's resident soprano, and although she's grateful her teacher isn't mad, shed appreciate it if she wasn't constantly reminded of the fact that she's currently the only one in the class that can hit all the high notes. "Please, take a seat. We're beginning our warm ups." Ms. Berry says, looking up from her conductor's stand which is covered in music sheets. Kitty smiles sweetly at the teacher and takes her seat next to her senior friends, Brittany and Santana.

"Nice one, Katherine." Santana smirks at her and leans back in her chair and lays her arm along the back of her girlfriend Brittany's chair. Kitty rolls her eyes at the use of her full name and begins the warm up. About 5 minutes into the exercises, they stop and Ms. Berry begins assigning duet partners for the year.

Brittany and Santana are paired up together, as always, and they smirk and exchange some incredibly complicated secret-handshake thing in celebration. Ms. Berry finishes calling out names and pauses, wrinkling her forehead. "That leaves Kitty with…" her voice trails off. Kitty sighs and realizes she's the odd woman out.

She leans back even further in her chair and sighs again in annoyance when someone bursts into the room. She turns around and rolls her eyes. It's her roommate. "Sorry I'm late! I just… I overslept." Marley says, rushing into the classroom and breathing heavily. Her hair is up in a sloppy ponytail and she's obviously rushed, her face flushed. Ms. Berry glares at the brunette and the room goes silent_. Uh-oh_, Kitty thinks, _She's about to get it._ For some reason, she feels compelled to pity the other girl, but something in her convinces her she shouldn't and she leans back in her chair with an all-knowing smirk on her face.

"And you are?" The music teacher asks coldly.

"M-Marley Rose. This is my first year here." She bites her lip nervously, still standing in the doorway, her hair fluttering around her face. Kitty raises her eyebrows and looks from her to Ms. Berry. She knows that being new isn't much of an excuse in her book, but for some reason, Kitty vaguely hopes that she won't go all psycho-Berry on the new girl.

Ms. Berry scratches something onto her notepad, and Kitty can almost predict what's going to happen next—she's going to pair them up. _Please, don't, _she thinks desperately and closes her eyes for a split second, and when she opens them again, Ms. Berry is looking up at Marley with a rather curious expression.

"You're a mezzo-soprano?" She asks and pushes her glasses up, nearly inspecting Marley. Kitty swallows. If she's a soprano, too, then maybe she'll luck out. Maybe Marley will be put in another class. Part of her desperately hopes so. Marley nods once and Ms. Berry looks back down at her notepad, making another note.

"Oh, excellent. You can pair up with Kitty for the year." Ms. Berry responds, not glancing up from her notepad. _Oh, great. _Kitty thinks. Marley looks over at Kitty and sends her a hesitant smile, which Kitty doesn't acknowledge. Marley bites her lip and looks around awkwardly for a place to sit, finding a place in the back row far away from Kitty, which the blonde is thankful for—although Marley might be her roommate, that doesn't mean that she has to be nice to her or even acknowledge her existence. Although them being duet partners might make that a bit more difficult, Kitty grumbles to herself, and she rolls her eyes and crosses her legs, turning her attention back to the actual class and trying as hard as she can to ignore the girl sitting a row behind her.

Ms. Berry begins to go over the synopsis for the next year. It's about the same stuff they did last year, and Kitty begins to tune her out, spending the class drawing little cartoons with Brittany on the edge of her notebook. She only begins to listen to Ms. Berry when she clears her throat dramatically. "Alright, everyone, time to announce the winter musical," she says, and Kitty sits up expectantly.

Santana and Brittany stop giggling and look at Ms. Berry quickly, their gaze flickering between each other and their teacher. "Can't she just announce it?" Santana mutters under her breath, but Kitty jabs her elbow between her ribs and quickly makes the Latina shut up.

"Gosh, Wilde," Santana mutters and spits out the last word as if it were a curse. "You've got some pointy elbows."

"Shut up," Kitty whispers back, but she can't stop the slightest hint of a grin flitting over her face and then disappearing as quickly as it came.

Ms. Berry looks at them with a disapproving expression and Kitty quickly shuts up, sitting on her hands with an apologetic and confident grin on her face. Ms. Berry opens her mouth as if to say something but merely shakes her head, turning her attention back to the announcement she was making. The winter musical was the big musical; that was the musical they got the newspaper to cover and the one they used the big theatre for. The rest of the plays were smaller by comparison, smaller and much less important.

"Anyways," Ms. Berry says and shoots Kitty and Santana another disapproving look. "We're doing Les Miserables this year," she continues, and loud whooping is heard from the other side of the room. "Mr. , sit down," she nearly growls, and Kitty rolls her eyes. Jesse, though supremely talented,is incredibly irritating.

He obliges her request and sits down, high-fiving Finn Hudson, who sits next to him wearing a cocky smirk on his face. Kitty rolls her eyes and turns back to Ms. Berry. "Auditions will be held in early December," she explains. "Like every year, all of you are required to audition." Santana groans and flops her head back. Kitty grins and bites her lip at her friend's antics. Santana has never really liked musicals, and part of her wonders why the hell she would even choose to take musical theatre if she doesn't like musicals.

"Santana, it's not going to be that bad," she says quickly when Ms. Berry has finished talking.

"Yeah, it is," Santana nearly hisses back, but Kitty has stopped being offended whenever Santana uses that tone of voice. She knows her too well for that.

"Just blow your audition, come on," Kitty whispers back and bites her lip as Ms. Berry stops talking for a split second, relaxing again when she turns back to the synopsis for the year.

"So you can get the lead again?" Santana asks and scoffs, brushing back her hair expertly with a well-timed swish of her hand. Kitty rolls her eyes. She did get a pretty good part for a freshman last year, much to the jealousy of Santana. Although she hates musicals, she still wants the solos, which Kitty does find a bit strange at times. She's never mentioned that to Santana, though, and she doesn't really want to.

"I'm not going to get the lead," Kitty says softly and looks down at Brittany's notebook, which is now covered in tiny cartoons of unicorns and hearts and swirly-things. But it's true: she doesn't want the lead female role, which would arguably be Fantine. She wants Cosette, the blonde who manages to end up with the guy. Basically, her.

Santana rolls her eyes with some degree of finality and turns back to Ms. Berry, but Kitty is sure she isn't listening. She lets her thoughts drift over to her new roommate, and as she thinks about her, a disgusted smirk creeps across her face.

Marley. Marley Rose. She's so innocent, with her stupid little cap and huge, baby-ish blue eyes. Kitty already detests her, and she shudders unwillingly at the thought of her. No doubt she'll be hanging out with freaks. Kitty makes the mental note to stay far, far away from Marley. No good will come of even acknowledging her existence for a longer period of time. It'll just drag Kitty's social standing down, and even though she's on top right now as a cheerleader, [the arts director finds it important that they still have a cheerleading team, and although they don't have a football team, they still perform at competitions] associating with losers and, more importantly, people on scholarship will immediately ensure that her social standing will go sliding down.

And believe it or not, Kitty actually likes hanging out with Santana and Brittany and all of the other popular kids. They're witty, they're funny, they're all talented and they throw the best parties: Kitty finally feels like she belongs, and she's not going to give that up for some brunette bitch with a newspaper boy cap.

She sighs and turns to the side, catching the faintest glimpse of Marley from the corner of her eye—she's sitting straight up, listening attentively to whatever Ms. Berry is saying. Of course she's a little teacher's pet, Kitty thinks with a disgusted expression on her face. She can just see Ms. Fabray and Ms. Berry fawning over her like she's some kind of an innocent child, and the thought makes her sick to her stomach.

Kitty Wilde is going to put Marley Rose in her place.

She leans back in her chair with a satisfied smirk, looking away from the somehow piercing blue eyes that threatened to follow her wherever. She was going to talk to Ms. Berry about the duet partners thing~ maybe she could help out after school sorting music or helping out with one of the less important plays or something. But she won't sing with Marley Rose for a whole year, partly because that'd mean she'd have to treat her at least civilly for part of the year in order to maintain her grade, and Kitty _really _doesn't want to do that.

So, when the class finally ends, Kitty sits back in the chair with a satisfied smirk on her face, certain she's going to get what she wants.

"What are you doing?" Santana asks, strutting out of the room with Brittany on her arm.

"Talking to Ms. Berry," Kitty says in a measured tone and shoos them away. "Wait for me outside, will you?"

Santana rolls her eyes and walks out, but Kitty knows they'll wait. And if they don't, she knows exactly where they will be. They've eaten lunch together every single day from the third quarter of freshman year on, and nothing is going to change that.

She waits until the rest of the doofuses that somehow got into the program file out the door, and when they're finally gone, she stays quiet, knowing Ms. Berry much too well than to try and get her to talk while she's still cleaning up after a class.

"Yes, Kitty?" She finally says after a few minutes, and Kitty uncrosses her legs and stares at her teacher with as neutral of an expression as possible.

"Ms. Berry, I was wondering if it was possible that I change duet partners for the year," Kitty begins, and Ms. Berry knits her eyebrows together and motions for Kitty to come towards her. She obliges, pulling up another chair and sitting by her piano, crossing and then uncrossing her legs.

"Why do you need to do that?" Ms. Berry asks, and Kitty can already tell it's a lost cause, but there's no point in not trying and Katherine Wilde doesn't go down without a fight.

"I-I don't feel comfortable singing with Marley," Kitty's speech is rushed, and she knows it's a desperate argument, but she just needs to try and maybe Ms. Berry will give in. She doubts it.

"Explain, please," Ms. Berry says and rifles through some papers on her desk before stacking them up neatly and putting them into a folder. Kitty watches the action sharply before realizing that she's been asked a question and picks her head up, tossing her cheerleader ponytail to the left.

"I don't know, I just don't really know her that well and I don't think it's a good idea," Kitty articulates lamely, and Ms. Berry raises her eyebrows. "I don't like her very much," Kitty says under her breath, and Ms. Berry's eyebrows shoot up even higher.

"You two are roommates, correct?" Ms. Berry asks and folds her hands on the desktop. Kitty nods nervously.

"Yes." She says as a confirmation, and Ms. Berry looks quickly to the side.

"Well, you're going to have to get along with her no matter what, you can't change your roommate," Ms. Berry says pointedly, and Kitty looks to the side.

"I'm working on that," she mutters, but Ms. Berry doesn't hear her, or at least pretends like she doesn't.

"You're going to try and work with Marley," Ms. Berry's voice is patient, but Marley is pretty sure it's a false patience that she shouldn't push. "Do you promise that you will try?"

"I can try," Kitty promises, but she's not sure.

"Have you even tried talking to her?" Ms. Berry asks and leans forward onto her elbows. "Like, really talking, not just irrelevant small talk."

"Not really," Kitty confesses and looks down at her fingernails.

"Kitty, you need to at least try to talk to her," Ms. Berry looks at her with a fierce expression in her eyes, and Kitty sighs and leans back in the chair.

"Okay," she says moodily and gets up, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

"Kitty," Ms. Berry calls out as she's almost out the door. Kitty can hear Brittany and Santana's mad giggling, and she turns around, biting her lip and mildly hopeful. "If there's a serious issue, with a legitimate reason, we can work something out," she adds, and Kitty shrugs uncomfortably.

"I understand," she says quickly, and before Ms. Berry can say anything else, she's out of the door.

Brittany and Santana are leaning against the wall talking and flirting obnoxiously, and Kitty stands awkwardly in front of them and has to clear her throat a couple of times before they actually register that she's there.

"So what was that all about?" Santana says, finally turning away from Brittany and facing Kitty with a challenging look in her eye.

"I want to change my duet partner," Kitty explains quickly and motions for them to leave and go to lunch. They link arms, Brittany in the middle, and start walking towards the café just outside campus. Now, Kitty doesn't even have to sneak out, because only freshman aren't allowed outside campus during school hours. It's not like that stopped her last year, though.

They walk towards the café, filling up the time of the short walk with idle chit-chat about their summers and what they're planning for this year. They're going to rule the school, of course, just like last year.

Kitty's thoughts flicker occasionally to her roommate, and she vaguely wonders who she's going to hang out with—she mentioned someone named Unique yesterday at one of the field trips, but Kitty doesn't know who that is. It's probably another new student. She wrinkles her nose in mild disgust. Probably another loser.

They arrive at the café and sit down in their usual spot. Brittany sends Santana off to get them so food, and Kitty leans back in the booth, a headache starting to pound in her temples.

"Why do you want to change your duet partner?" Brittany asks curiously and furrows her brow. Kitty is torn out of her thoughts and stares at Brittany with a skeptical expression. "Marley seems nice."

Kitty rolls her eyes and shrugs. "She's annoying."

"How?" Brittany bites her lip.

"She's so…innocent and _young." _Kitty tries to articulate but somehow fails. "She's just such a victim, it's so irritating."

Brittany raises her eyebrows but says nothing.

"What?" Kitty nearly spits out and leans forward, daring Brittany to say something.

"No-thing," Brittany sing-songs, and she twirls part of her ponytail around her finger, staring at Kitty with wide, innocent blue eyes.

Kitty sighs and leans back again in the booth. What might have become an awkward silence is broken by Santana, yielding a paper bag full of pastries. "I've got the food," she says and slides into the booth next to Brittany, and Kitty reaches into the bag and grabs a croissant.

"You're welcome," Santana mumbles, and she looks pointedly and Brittany, who smiles largely and grabs a cookie.

Kitty stares sullenly down at her lap, still stewing about Ms. Berry. "So, how's the roommate?" Santana asks to break the silence, and tilts her head to the side curiously.

Kitty inwardly rolls her eyes. _Why is everyone asking me about this? _She thinks venomously and threads her hands together below the table. "She's annoying," Kitty says slowly and looks up at Santana.

"How?" She asks, her mouth full of whatever she's eating.

"I don't know, she just is!" Kitty says and crosses her arms. Why is everyone so curious about her new roommate, even her friends? Marley's nothing special, she's a stupid, blinky-eyed innocent _freak. _She's some poor scholarship student that most people wouldn't even look twice at.

"Touchy, touchy," Santana remarks, staring at her nails and then tapping her fingers on the table. "What's her name again?"

"Marley," Kitty spits out with a certain venom, rolling her eyes at the sound of the name itself.

"And she's new?" Santana inquires, and Kitty looks at her pointedly.

"She's from Ohio," Kitty mocks and twirls a loop of hair around her finger. Ohio. Isn't that one of the square ones in the middle that no one really gives a flying fuck about? Useless, unremarkable—just like Marley, basically. She smirks wryly. It fits perfectly.

"So cliché," Santana mutters, and Kitty nods vigorously, happy that Santana is at least sharing some of her opinions on the new girl.

"Maybe we should invite her to eat with us sometime," Brittany bursts out, and Kitty begins to shake her head.

"Let's not," Kitty's voice is falsely bright, and she nods twice to reinforce that idea in Brittany's head. "Really, don't." Her false smile slips from her face.

"Doesn't seem like too much of a bad idea," Santana smirks and trades a look with Brittany.

"You've got to be kidding me," Kitty says flatly. They can't possibly be serious—they've never been interested in being nice to the underdog, the girl who just wants to chase her dreams in the Big Apple—so why start now, when that person just happens to be Kitty's roommate? "You're just going to make fun of her."

"No, we won't," Santana says and for a minute, Kitty even believes it's genuine. Sometimes, she can't figure these two out. Most of the time, they're shallow, conceited, vain girls, obsessed with braiding each other's hair and giggling over what one of the losers has done this time. But sometimes, like _now, _they're at least seemingly kind and accepting.

"Why do you even want to talk to her?" Kitty asks and tosses her hair over her shoulder, taking a water bottle out of her bag and drinking a sip before setting it down.

"I'm curious," Santana says with a noncommittal shrug. Santana brushes back a lock of hair from her face and blinks a couple of times. She and Brittany trade another look, and then they both burst out laughing obnoxiously.

"What?" Kitty snaps, annoyed.

"I'm kidding," Santana says, and despite herself, Kitty feels a huge weight lift off of her chest. "You really don't like her, do you?"

"Are you an idiot?" Kitty hisses and thinks back to the strange sensation she feels whenever she thinks about Marley Rose. It's a strange, unsteady burning in her gut and she squares her shoulders and shifts her weight uncomfortably. When she speaks the next words, she's pretty much convinced herself.

"I practically hate her." Kitty says with certainty, and although Santana's eyebrows look like they're about to disappear and Brittany certainly doesn't look very convinced, she nods again and takes the last bite of her croissant. Because she does. Kitty really does hate Marley Rose.

Right?

"_What is this feeling,_

_So sudden and new?_

_I felt the moment _

_I laid eyes on you._

_My pulse is rushing,_

_My head is reeling._

_Oh, what is this feeling_?"

_-"What Is This Feeling?" Stephen Schwartz_


End file.
